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Sunday, December 15, 2013

City of Shiraz is located in southwest of Iran and is the capital of Fars province and it has been the capital of Iran for many time through out the history. Shiraz has a population of !.5 million and its one of the oldest cities in Iran. People in Shiraz speak Farsi and have the accent of their own which gives them the unique way of speaking, Shirazi people don't only have a different accent but they also use a slightly different grammar.Shiraz is not only the representative of history of Fars but it is the city of poetry and literature.

Hafez was aPersian poet. His collected works composed of series of Persian literature are to be found in the homes of most people in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan, who learn his poems by heart and use them as proverbs and sayings to this day. His life and poems have been the subject of much analysis, commentary and interpretation, influencing post-fourteenth century Persian writing more than any other author.At left his cemetery can be seen which is one of the places which has its own philosophical atmosphere. Most of Hafez poems are about love and his tomb is one of the places that lovers gather together.

Saadi was one of the major Persian poets of the medieval period. He is not only famous in Persian-speaking countries, but has also been quoted in western sources. He is recognized for the quality of his writings and for the depth of his social and moral thoughts. Saadi is widely recognized as one of the greatest masters of the classical literary tradition.In Iran Saadi is known for his special way of writing which is very simple and makes it easy to understand for everyone and some of his poems are thought in middle school.Above we can see his cemetery which is called Saadie and is one of the most respected places for fans of literature and is the dream of so many to visit this place. Saadie always smells like Golab which is a type of a traditional perfume.

Thinking about history of persia always reminds one of the history of Shiraz; Shiraz is where Persepolis is placed one of the 7 wonders of the world. Persepolis was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire (ca. 550–330 BC). Persepolis is situated 70 km northeast of the modern city of Shiraz in the Fars Province of modern Iran.

This city was one of the capitals of Achaemenid Empire which is one of the biggest empires that history of man kind has seen to it self and it has a lot of effect on Persians not to forget who they were and what they have done to this world and what effects they have had. The first time I went to this place I was six years old, I was impressed by the size of this place which is all built from stone and how people were able to do that in more than 2500 years ago but what I was more impressed about was how mens and women were sermoning to this place. Even though I was young I could feel the pride and the pure sense of nationalism in side my soul and I felt a change. This great City has seen great kings to it self such as Cyrus.

Cyrus commonly known as Cyrus the Great,also known as Cyrus the Elder, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Under his rule, the empire embraced all the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East,expanded vastly and eventually conquered most of Southwest Asia and much of Central Asia and the Caucasus. From the Mediterranean sea andHellespont in the west to the Indus River in the east, Cyrus the Great created the largest empire the world had yet seen.His regal titles in full were The Great King, King of Persia, King of Anshan, King of Media, King of Babylon, King of Sumer and Akkad, and King of the Four Corners of the World. He also proclaimed what has been identified by scholars and archaeologists to be the oldest known declaration of human rights, which was transcribed onto the Cyrus Cylindersometime between 539 and 530 BC.This view has been criticized by some as a misunderstanding of what they claim to be the Cylinder's generic nature as a traditional statement of the sort that new monarchs may make at the beginning of their reign.

Pasargad Is the grave stone of the greatest king that Iran has seen in its history. The man who brought piece to the four corners of the world.Here is a link to the website named "The Economist " giving their Idea on the importance of cyrus Cylinder .

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Isfahan is historically also rendered in English as Ispahan, Sepahan or Hispahan, is the capital of Isfahan Province in Iran, located about 340 kilometres (211 miles) south of Tehran. It has a population of 1,583,609 and is Iran's third largest city after Tehran and Mashhad. The Isfahan metropolitan area had a population of 3,430,353 in the 2006 Census, the second most populous metropolitan area in Iran after Tehran. Isfahan is one of the oldest cities in Iran and shows a great mixture of persian and Islamic mixture in such a way that some know Isfahan as the capital of Islamic culture. Isfahan has been the capital city of Iran for many years trough out the history and this gave the opportunity to grow before other cities and keep the cloture in it at the same time. During the age of Safavi Kingdom ruling Iran Isfahan was once again chosen as the capital city, Safavi was one of the most successful Persian kingdoms at its time and their attention to culture art and history made isfahan a different city from any other in the world in a way that some people say "Isfahan is half of the world". The river Zayanderood cuts this city in two part of Balarood and PainRood which means above river and bellow river, despite most cities the welter part of Isfahan is the part below the river which is the south of Isfahan.

Naqsh-e Jahan Square,translation: "Image of the World Square", known as Imam Square, formerly known as Shah Square, is a square situated at the center of Isfahan city, Iran. Constructed between 1598 and 1629, it is now an important historical site, and one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites. It is 160 meters wide by 508 meters long(an area of 89,600 m2). The square is surrounded by buildings from the Safavid era. The Shah Mosque is situated on the south side of this square. On the west side is the Ali QapuPalace. Sheikh Lotf Allah Mosque is situated on the eastern side of this square and the northern side opens into the Isfahan Grand Bazaar. Today,Namaaz-e Jom'eh (the Muslim Friday prayer) is held in the Shah Mosque.Horse polo originally comes from Iran and the start of it is from the Sfavid Kingdom, Naghsh e Jahan square used to be ground for kings horse polo and the building of Ali Qapu which is also known as the balcony of Isfahan (at the time that it was built it was on of the tallest building in Isfahan and it has a huge balcony facing the square so the king could watch polo and also check out on how things are going on at the central bazaar of Isfahan, it was also used for watching the game)The Shah Mosque(Jameh Abbasi Mosque) known as Imam mosque(after the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran) is an excellent example of Islamic architecture of Iran, and regarded as one of the masterpieces of Persian Architecture. The Shah Mosque of Esfahan is one of the everlasting masterpieces of architecture in Iran. It is registered, along with the Naghsh-i Jahan Square, as a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site. Its construction began in 1611, and its splendor is mainly due to the beauty of its seven-colour mosaic tiles and calligraphicinscriptions. The mosque is one of the treasures featured on Around the World in 80 Treasures presented by the architecture historian Dan Cruickshank.

The Safavids founded the Shah Mosque as a channel through which they could express themselves with their numerous architectural techniques. The four-iwanformat, finalized by the Seljuq dynasty, and inherited by the Safavids, firmly established the courtyard facade of such mosques, with the towering gateways at every side, as more important than the actual building itself.During Seljuq rule, as Islamic mysticism was on the rise and Persians were looking for a new type of architectural design that emphasized an Iranian identity, the four-iwan arrangement took form. The Persians already had a rich architectural legacy, and the distinct shape of the iwan was actually taken from earlier, Sassanid palace-designs, such as The Palace of Ardashir. Thus, Islamic architecture witnessed the emergence of a new brand that differed from the hypostyle design of the early, Arab mosques, such as the Umayyad Mosque. The four-iwan format typically took the form of a square shaped, central courtyard with large entrances at each side, giving the impression of being gateways to the spiritual world.

The last piece of culture and great history of Isfahan which I am going to Introduce is Siose Pol which is a bridge on the river of Zayanderood and it connects the north and south of Isfahan. For a long time it was trouble getting from one side to the other side of the river due to the wideness of it; Commissioned in 1602 by Shah Abbas I from his chancellor Allahverdi Khan Undiladze, an Iranian ethnic Georgian, it consists of two rows of 33 arches. There is a larger base plank at the start of the bridge where the Zayandeh River flows under it, supporting a tea house. the total length of the bridge is 297 meter and 14 meter wide. This bridge is made 415 years ago and in those days it was one of the most advanced structures and pieces of architecture.